North Carolina man pleads guilty to racial
harassment of African-American family - The defendant participated
in the hanging of a rope noose on the victim’s front
door. The victim had just moved into a previously all-white
neighborhood of Richlands, North Carolina. The defendent admitted
that he and his co-conspirators intended to frighten and intimidate
the family into moving away from Richlands.

Conspiring to violate the civil rights of
several individuals by carrying out a campaign of intimidation
- Alexander James Curtis, 25, of Lemon Grove, Calif., admitted that
from 1997 to 1999 he conspired to injure, oppress, threaten and
intimidate persons because of their race, color or national origin.
Curtis pleaded guilty to three felony counts of a conspiracy to
violate civil rights. The maximum statutory punishment is 10 years
in custody and a maximum fine of $250,000 for each felony count

The following a quick
look at how the web is used to facilitate crimes against disabled
people’s civil rights.

Conspiracies against the Blind

It is well known in the blind community that it
is almost impossible to get a taxi with a Guide dog in some major
cities. Many cab companies do not like having animals in their
vehicles and they use Internet forums to find legal ways to bypass
the ADA and deny rights of access to blind guide animal users.

The following is a sample of such a
conspiracy. By publishing this information in a prominent forum,
blind people everywhere can be discriminated against.

“Just say that you are allergic to dogs.

The ADA has an exception when the animal
endangers the health of others and all you have to do is claim that
you are allergic to dogs”.

Conspiracies Against the Mentally Ill

On May 9, 2003, the Department of
Transportation (DOT) published new guidelines concerning service
animals, ruling that Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) fall within
the scope of the ADA and must be allowed in all places of public
accommodation.